onstruction

C roductivity
P
Lesson objectives :

 Develop a working definition of productivity

 Calculate productivity using standard references
 Establish the causes of poor productivity
 What is productivity?
• Amount of work completed in a given
period (Ostwald, 2001)
• Dollar output per person-hour of labor
input (US Department of Commerce)
• Productivity = Output ~ Input or
• Units produced ~ Worker hours (AACE
International, 1992)
 Productivity Rate Defined
• Planned average production rate based on
the available resources (e.g., labor, equip,
subs) and environment.
Labor / time
ACTIVITY
Material / time Activity
PRODUCTION
Productivity
PROCESS
Equipment / time
 Estimating activity durations
Dependent upon :
• Work quantity
• Production rate of equipment or crew

• Formula :
Quantity of work
Duration =
Rate of Production
 Estimating activity duration -
formula explained

D = A / (N*ROP)

• D = duration (time of activity)

• A = area or quantity of work required
• N = number of resources or people available
• ROP=rate of production of the resources
or people
Work quantity (from estimate)
• The amount of work that must be
accomplished
May not be an exact quantity of material or
equipment
• Examples:
Cubic yards of concrete
Sq ft. of floor tile
Yard of carpet
 Rate of Production sources
• Company historical data (experiences)
• Standard industry references
• Specialty services
 Example problem
• Project : 3 Storey building
• Job: Brick wall over concrete block
• Work volume:
concrete block=29,314 cmu
face brick = 193,900 pcs
• Labor productivity :
a. Concrete block:
25 CMU/mh at this height (mh = man- hours)
Assume 16 man crew :
29,314 block(est. # of CMUs from est.)
25 cmu/hr (production rate) x 16 masons (in crew)
= 73.28 (rnd to 74) mh for the crew per mason
 Example problem continued…..

b. Brick wall
• Masons can install 80 face brick per man/hour at this
height (productivity rate)
• Productivity;
193,900 face brick (from est)
= 151.48 (152) mh for each crew
80 brick/mh x 16 crew size

Total mh = 74 (for block) + 152 (for brick) = 226 mh (for each crew)
Or
Each mason in the crew work 226 hours
Or

A total of 16x226 = 3.616 hr for the entire crew.

 Duration
• Total Man-hours = 74(for block) + 152 (for
brick) = 226 man-hours (for crew of 16
people)
• Calculating duration of this activity (using
an 8 hr work day);
226 man-hours (for crew of 16 people)
8 hrs/day

= 28.25 (rnd 29) days to complete

 Mason tenders hours
• Required to provide 1 helper/2 masons or
% of the people required for the masons

% of (226 man-hours * 16 (masons in crew) =

1/2 * 226 * 16 = 1,808 mh for mason tenders

Check:
1,808 mh / (8 tenders in crew) = 226 mh/tender
 Figuring cost
• Mason : Rp. 7500/ hr ea.
• Labor : Rp. 6250/hr ea.
• Masons payroll –
3,616hrs x Rp.7500 = Rp. 27.120.000,-
• Tenders payroll –
1,808 hrs x Rp.6250 = Rp. 11.300.000,-
• Duration is 29 days (slightly less than)
Figuring construction productivity
(barriers to productivity)

Management
factors

Reasons for
Low
Productivity

Industrial Labor
factors factors
Industry related factors
• Uniqueness of construction projects
• Varied locations
• Adverse, uncertain weather and seasonality
• Dependence on economy
• Small size of firms
• Lack of R & D
• Building codes
• Regulations and laws
 Labor factors
• High percentage of labor cost
• Supply-demand characteristic
• Little potential for learning
• Risk of worker accident
• Work rules
• Lack of worker motivation
 Management factors

• Lack of training
• Poor accounting and controls
• Poor personnel management skills
• Short sighted view
• Tendency to shoot the messenger
 GROUP DISCUSSION
• Make class in three groups (lets A, B and
Cs)
• Each group focuses on one factor causing
for low productivity.
• Make a short paper (± 50 minutes); what,
why, who, how
• Make a brief presentation (± 15 minutes
each)
End of This
Session